Stacking chair glider attachment

ABSTRACT

An assembly adapted to be mounted to the bottom of a stacking chair leg and which includes a glide for engaging a floor and a bumper having a protuberance arranged to engage the leg of a nether chair in a stacked arrangement of chairs.

llnlted States Patent 1191 Barile Sept. 4, 1973 [54] STACKING CHAIR GLIDER ATTACHMENT 3,021,551 2 1962 Kramcsak, Jzr. 16 42 3,025,105 3/1962 Nash 297/239 [75] lnventor. Peter Barlle, Barnngton, 111. 3,342,445 9/1967 16/42 T [73] Assigneez Shelby Williams Industries Inc" 3,076,221 2/1963 Reynolds 16/42 R Chicago I" 3,291,523 12/1966 Krueger 297/239 2,744,283 5/1956 Reineman 248/1889 [22] Filed: July 28, 1971 21 APPL 16 94 Primary Examiner-Bernard A. Gelak Assistant Examiner-Doris L. Troutman Artur 'l.1rvin Silverman,Ml ron C. Cass et al. 52 us. c1 16 42, 297/239, 248/345.1 m g y [51] int. Cl ..'A47b 91/06 [58] Field of Search 297/339; 46/42 T, [57] ABSTRACT 46/42; 248/1888 3461 3451; 108/91 An assembly adapted to be mounted to the bottom of [56] References Cited :1 stackmg chalr leg and whlch 1ncludes a gllde for engaglng a floor and a bumper havlng a protuberance ar- UNITED STATES PATENTS ranged to engage the leg of a nether chair in a stacked 2,954,637 10/1960 Scherer 248/345.l arrangement of chairs. 1,906,590 5/1933 Hewson .1 248/3451 2,290,00l 7/1942 Sherman 248/3451 5 Claims, 6 Drawing, Figures Patented Sept. 4, 1973 3,755,853

2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Patented Sept. 4, 1973 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 a 2k, 477-0 ewe-r:

I STACKING CHAIR GLIDER ATTACHMENT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a glide and bumper assembly which is mountedto thebottom ofa legof astacking chair or other similar supporting structure. The assembly includes a conventional floor glide for engaging a floor and a bumper connected to theglide and having a protuberance arranged to engage the leg of alower chair in a stack when the chair mounting said glide and bumper assembly is engage'd upon the lower'chair.

In present day stacking chair and thelike chair construction, it is common practice to provide a pivotal legs of another chair when the chairs are stacked one upon the other so as to provide astablestack of chairs.

Accordingly, some stackable chairs are provided with an oversized glidehaving a lateral or radial extent greater than the cross-section or lateral extent of the chair leg to which it is attached so that when the chairs are stacked, one upon the other, the glide at the bottom of each chair leg will engage the side ofthe chair leg of a chair therebeneath. In other stacltablechairs, a bumper is mounted on the side of each chair leg and is adapted to engage the leg; of another chair-when the chairs are stacked oneupon the other.

The combination glide and bumper assembly of the present invention includes a conventional glide anda bumper'member connected tothe glide having a protuberant portion'adapted to engage theleg of another chair whenthe chairs are 'stacked one uponanother. The bumper member also can form part of the means for connecting the assembly to the bottom of a chair leg.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The combinationglide and bumper assembly of the present invention includes a conventionalglide, a nonmetallic bumper member connected to the glideand means for connecting the assembly to the bottomof a leg of asupportingstructure, such as a chair. The glide includes a foot and a stem'pivotally connected atone end to the foot. Thebumper member ism'ounted on the stem and has at least a portion thereof which protrudes or projects laterally outwardly from the assembly and wliichis adaptedto contactthe leg of another supporting structure when the first mentioned supporting structure is stacked upon another supporting structure.

' BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a side elevational view of two chairs stacked one upon the otherwith each of the chair legs of the chairs having the combination glide and bumper assembly of the invention mounted on the bottom thereof.

FIG. 2 is an enlargedview of the assembly of the in- FIG. 4 is a top plan-view of said assembly as viewed fromline 4-4 of FIG. 2. V

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of another embodiment of the assembly of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view of still another embodiment of the assembly of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawings, a stack 10 of two chairs I1 is shown in FIG. 1. Each of the chairs 11 includes a conventional combined seat and backrest 12 with fourlegs 14 extending therefrom. The legs of the chairs 11, as illustrated, areho llow or tubular legs of square cross-section, although this configuration is not critical. The bottom 16 0f each of the legs 14 has a combination glide and bumper assembly embodying the invention connectedthereto, as; indicated generally at 20.

As'best shown in FIG. 2, each assembly 20 includes a glide 22 and a non metallic bumper or bumper member 24.-The glide 22 includes'a disc-sliaped foot'26 and a stem 28 which is povotally connected at one end 29 to the foot 26 through a ball-and-socket joint indicated at 30. The glide22 is a-well-known conventional structure.

The'bumper 24 is generally square in cross-section and has a central bore 32, seen in' FIG. 3, through which the stem 28 is extended when the bumper 24 is mountedonthe stem 28; As shown in FIG. 3, bumper 24 is generally dish-shaped to provide a generally square cavity 34 therein. The cavity 34 is adapted to receive the bottom 16oftheleg1l4 as best shown in FIG. 2. Preferably, the bottom 16 is frictionally fit into the cavity 34 such thatthe cavity 34forms at least part of the means for connecting the assembly 20 to the bottom 16 of one of thelegs l4.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the bumper 24 has a protuberance orproje ction' 26 extending from at least one side thereof. Preferably, the projection 36 is solid and integral with the remainder of the bumper 24. The projection 36 extends laterally outwardly from the assembly 20 and beyond the lateral extent of the periphery of the foot 26 so that when one chair ll 1 is stacked upon another chair, the projection-36 will engage and seat against the leg of a chair therebeneath. Preferably, the end of the projection 36 is bluntand has a seat or seatingsurface38 which will come into contact with a side of one of the legs 14. The provision of the seat38 on the projection36 of the bumper 34 is preferred since it notonlyprevents thelegs 14 of the stacked chairs from scratching eachother, but also makes for an extremely stable stacking of the chairs 11.

As shown in FIG; 2, the assembly 20 also includes two cup-shaped spacers 41 and 42 and a deflectable retainer plate 44 which are mounted on the stem 28. In this respect the spacers 41 and 42 are located on either side of the bumper 24 and the deflectable retainer plate 44 is positioned on the stem 28 above the cup-shaped spacer 42;In the'illustrated embodiment, the stem 28 is tubular and is flared at the upper end 46 thereof for holding the retainer plate 44, cup-shaped spacer 42, bumper 24 and cup-shaped spacer 41 in assembled position. In the illustrated embodiment, a washer 48 is situatedon the stem 28 between the lower edge of the cup-shaped spacer 42 and the bottom of the cavity 34 in thebumper 24. It is to be noted that the flaring of the end 46 of the stem 28 provides a simple inexpensive and effective means for fixing the parts of the assembly together.

In cross-section, the retainer plate 44 has a dishshape and is mounted on the stem 28 in such a way that the outer edges thereof are located downwardly and outwardly from the flared end 46 of the stem 28. Before the assembly 20 is connected to the bottom 16 of one of the legs 14, the lateral extent of the plate 44 is greater than the interior cross-section of the tubular leg 14 so that when the assembly 20 is mounted at the bottom 16 of one of the legs 14, the edges of the retainer plate 44 will be deflected downwardly and inwardly and will frictionally engage the interior wall of the leg 14. In this respect, sharp corner edges 49 of the retainer plate 44 engage the interior wall of the leg 14 in such a way that any attempt to pull the assembly 20 from the bottom 16 of one of the legs 14 will tend to urge the corner edges 49 into the interior wall of the leg 14. In this way, a strong connection is made between the bottom 16 of one of the legs 14 and the assembly 20. Also, it is to be understood, that the tight and snug fit between the cavity 34 and the outer periphery of the bottom 16 of the leg 14 received therein cooperates with the retainer plate 44 in holding the assembly 20 to the bottom 16 of one of the legs 14.

As shown in FIG. 4 the retainer plate 44 preferably has the shape of an X with four legs 50. Each leg 50 has two of the comer edges 49 thereon.

Another embodiment of the combination and glide and bumper assembly of the present invention is generally indicated at 120 in FIG. 5. The assembly 120 includes a circular bumper 124 and a foot 126 identical to the foot 26 shown in FIG. 2. In this embodiment the entire periphery, of the bumper 124, extends laterally outwardly from the assembly 120. In this respect the lateral or radial extent of the bumper 124 is greater than the lateral or radial extent of the foot 126 so that when chairs having the assemblies 120 mounted at the bottom of each leg thereof are stacked, the bumpers 124 mounted on each chair will engage the legs on the chair therebeneath.

It will be noted that when the assembly 20 is mounted at the bottom 16 of one of the legs 14, it must be so mounted that the projection 36 on each front leg extends toward each rear leg of the chair 11 and vice versa. Since the bumper 124 of vthe assembly 120 shown in FIG. has a circular shape, a particular orientation of the assembly 120 on the bottom 16 of one of the legs 14 is not required. Accordingly, the assembly 120 has an advantage over the assembly 20 in that no particular orientation in the mounting thereof on the bottom of a chair leg is required. However, it is to be noted that in some applications, the assembly 20 may be preferred over the assembly 120, particularly where it is desired that no portion of the assembly extend outwardly from the chair, and a portion (projection 36) of the bumper (bumper 24) only projects outwardly toward another leg of the chair and within the periphery of the chair as defined by the legs thereof.

Still another embodiment of the combination glide at 220 in FIG. 6. This assembly is similar to the assemblies and 20 and the only difference is in the shape of the bumper 224 which, in this embodiment, is octagonal. The other components of the assemblies 20, 120 and 220 are identical. The octagonal shape of the bum per 224 has the same advantage of the circular bumper 124 in that no special orientation of the assembly is required when it is mounted at the bottom of the leg of a chair. Additionally, the octagonal bumper 224 has the advantage of having a plurality of seating surfaces 238, any one of which is adapted to engage the side of a chair leg when a plurality of chairs utilizing the bumper assemblies 220 are stacked one upon the other. By having the seating surfaces 238, a more stable stacking of a stack of chairs with square legs is obtained.

Although several preferred embodiments of the glide and bumper assembly of the present invention have been described above, it is to be understood that obvious modifications, variations and alterations can be made to the glide and bumper assemblies of the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. In this respect, the assemblies 20, 120 and 220 can be modified to accommodate tubular chair legs. In such applications, of course, the cavity formed in each bumper 24, 124 and 224 will have a circular shape. Also it may be desirable in such modified embodiments to change the shape of the retainer plate from an X shape to a square shape.

Accordingly, what it is desired to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a glide and bumper assembly for hollow leg stack chairs the combination comprising a glide including a foot portion and a stem portion, a non-metallic bumper connected to said glide, means connecting said assembly to the lower extremity of said hollow leg, said bumper including a body portion provided with a generally square cavity therein defined by an encircling wall, said stem portion of said glide extending through said bumper and into said cavity, retainer means mounted on the portion of said stem extending into said cavity, said retainer including deflectable fingers extending outwardly toward and within said encircling wall and a protuberant portion on said bumper body extending laterally outwardly therefrom dimensioned to engage the leg of a next chair in a stack of chairs.

2. The assembly as claimed in claim I in which said connecting means includes means on said bumper for engaging the bottom of the leg.

3. The assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein said bumper has a bore through which said stem is received for mounting said bumper on said stem.

4. The assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein said bumper is generally circular and has a symmetrical lateral or radial extent which is greater than the lateral extent of said foot.

5. The assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which said bumper is generally polygonal, and has a symmetrical lateral extent which is greater than the lateral extent of said foot. 

1. In a glide and bumper assembly for hollow leg stack chairs the combination comprising a glide including a foot portion and a stem portion, a non-metallic bumper connected to said glide, means connecting said assembly to the lower extremity of said hollow leg, said bumper including a body portion provided with a generally square cavity therein defined by an encircling wall, said stem portion of said glide extending through said bumper and into said cavity, retainer means mounted on the portion of said stem extending into said cavity, said retainer including deflectable fingers extending outwardly toward and within said encircling wall and a protuberant portion on said bumper body extending laterally outwardly therefrom dimensioned to engage the leg of a next chair in a stack of chairs.
 2. The assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which said connecting means includes means on said bumper for engaging the bottom of the leg.
 3. The assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein said bumper has a bore through which said stem is received for mounting said bumper on said stem.
 4. The assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein said bumper is generally circular and has a symmetrical lateral or radial extent which is greater than the lateral extent of said foot.
 5. The assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which said bumper is generally polygonal, and has a symmetrical lateral extent which is greater than the lateral extent of said foot. 